Meet the Startups that Make Up the Newark Venture Partners Third Class

Newark Venture Partners announced last week the roster of startups accepted into the fall 2017 class of the NVP Labs accelerator, although the accelerator program had actually kicked off on October 10.

This is the accelerator’s third cohort. The managing directors said, “One year and three classes later, we are as laser focused as ever on attracting leading entrepreneurs to Newark to build distinctive businesses that will propel the city’s technology ecosystem.”

According to a post on Medium, the company blog, the nine selected companies represent 1 percent of the applications, and cover sectors ranging from waste management to healthcare, and locations ranging from New York City to Tel Aviv. The companies are as follows:

Bixby, which moved to Newark from New York, is a mobile building, communication and hospitality platform that makes it easier for owners and managers of all property types and portfolio sizes to provide top-quality service to tenants and residents, while making properties more connected, efficient and sustainable. Cofounder Mark Smukler is the company’s CEO.

BOTique came to the Newark accelerator from Tel Aviv. The company is a next-generation AI-powered contact center, and Netanel Gilad is cofounder and CTO. BOTique has developed proprietary AI and natural-language processing to allow for context-based conversations.

Hoboken-based Enhatch is a high-caliber mobile platform for field sales teams in the complex industrial sales sector.  We’ve covered this startup previously. Peter Verrillo is the founder and CEO.

Hyr, coming to Newark from Toronto, is a fully mobile platform that connects traditional businesses like restaurants, hotels and retailers with 1099 laborers to fill hourly paid work shifts on demand. The cofounders are Joshua Karam, CEO, and Erika Mozes, CMO.

Industrial/Organic (now in Newark from New York), cofounded by CEO Amanda Weeks, is a waste management startup that recovers resources from excess food to be made into new products, thereby keeping food out of landfills.

PadInMotion , also from New York, provides healthcare facilities through a digital platform that educates, engages and stays connected to patients. According to the website, patients and their loved ones access the company’s platform via tablets available at their care facilities or through their personal mobile devices. PadInMotion was cofounded by Nir Altman, CEO.

Seamless.AI  is a sales automation software package powered by artificial intelligence that finds perfect email addresses, phone numbers and insights for any professional in the world. Cofounded by Brandon Bornancin, CEO, the company originated in Columbus, Ohio. According to the website, Seamless was founded “to organize the world’s contacts and make them universally accessible and useful. This makes creating profitable relationships and new revenue, Seamless.”

Also founded in New York at Cornell Tech, Ursa helps teams develop conversations into actionable and shareable stories. The cofounders are CEO Gabriel Ruttner and COO Vince Wong. According to the website, “We’re using automated transcription and collaborative tools to bring teams closer to their users and each other.”

Ziel, which also originated in New York,  is an athletic apparel company founded by Marleen Vogelaar, CEO. A retail-as-a-service platform, Ziel focuses on leaders of health and wellness communities to create and sell on-demand, custom performance wear. “For healthy lifestyle brands, who want to sell custom athletic apparel with no minimum order and delivery in under 10 days, Ziel is the turnkey service offering design, manufacturing and retail integration,” the startup’s website says.

Newark Venture Partners’ corporate partners are Audible, Dun & Bradstreet, Prudential Financial, RWJBarnabas Health and Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey. These companies also provide ongoing mentorship to the members of NVP Labs classes. Demo Day for this cohort has already been set. It will be on January 17, 2018.